Thursday, October 20, 2016

Write-in for president? Not so fast -- Oct. 20, 2016 column

By MARSHA MERCER

You say you can’t stand voting for the presidential
candidates on the ballot, so you’re going to write in Mickey Mouse, your own
name -- or mine? Don’t. Really.

Yes, several prominent Republicans say they will write
in GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence for president because they can’t
abide Donald Trump. They include Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Cory
Gardner of Colorado and Rob Portman of Ohio.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he might write in the
name of his buddy Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.

The urge to protest the presidential choice is strong,
but a write-in could be wrong. You might as well tear your ballot into tiny
pieces and swallow them as write in someone’s name, even Pence or Bernie
Sanders -- unless you do your homework.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, won a
write-in campaign for re-election in 2010 after losing the GOP primary, but no
write-in presidential candidate has ever won a single state.

Votes for a third party or write-in candidate could
tip close states to one candidate or the other, however. Hillary Clinton finally
called on Al Gore to make the point.

“Your vote really, really, really counts. A lot. You
can consider me as an Exhibit A of that truth,” Gore said at a Clinton rally in
Miami Oct. 11.

In the 2000 presidential election, Gore came within a
whisker of winning Florida’s popular vote and the White House. Many Democrats
still blame Ralph Nader for Gore’s loss.

It’s worth reviewing this bit of ancient history. In the
official Florida tally, George W. Bush beat Gore by 537 votes – and Nader got
97,488 votes.

Nader was on the ballot as the Green Party
presidential candidate, so his votes counted. Each state sets its own election
rules, though, and many states are unfriendly to write-ins.

In 34 states, including Virginia, write-in presidential
candidates must file papers with the state before the election. Otherwise their
votes don’t count.

A write-in presidential candidate in Virginia needs to
submit to the state a list of 13 electors at least 10 days before Election Day.
Alabama does not require advanced paperwork, but Tennessee does.

In Florida, write-in presidential candidates must file
an oath with the state in order to have a blank space provided for their names
to be written in on the general election ballot.

A write-in presidential candidate in Florida must file
the form and a list of electors “at any time after the 57th day, but
before noon of the 49th day, prior to the date of the primary
election in the year in which a presidential election is held,” according to Florida
law.

Got that?

Only seven states allow voters to write in whomever
they please for president, and nine states don’t allow presidential write-in
votes at all.

Presidential candidates also must file with the
Federal Election Commission. So far, more than
1,800 individuals have filed paperwork as presidential candidates with the FEC.

Clinton, Trump and Libertarian Gary Johnson are on
ballots in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Green Party candidate
Jill Stein is on the ballot in 44 states and D.C., and she has qualified as a
write-in in three other states.

Independent Laurence Kotlikoff, an economics professor
at Boston University, insists he has a shot largely as a write-in candidate at
the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the White House.

On the ballot in only two states, Kotlikoff says by
Election Day he will be registered as a write-in in all but one of the states
that require certification.

Independent Evan McMullin, a conservative who made
news when a poll in usually red-state Utah put him in a tight race with Trump
and Clinton, told NPR Sunday he is on the ballot in 11 states and will be on
the ballot or certified as a write-in in 43 to 45 states by Election Day.

It’s totally understandable that voters appalled by Clinton
and Trump would want to protest by writing in someone else’s name. The smart thing
to do first: Check with your local election office whether a write-in vote for
president will be tallied.